[va-bird] Smith Island Feb. 9-10 (Harry Armistead)

[Larry R Lynch <birder6@xxxxxxxx>]

<< forwarded by Larry Lynch for Harry Armistead>>
--------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Harry Armistead    harryarmistead@xxxxxxxxxxx  
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 19:31:12 -0500


Weekend of Feb. 9-10, 2002.  Saturday:  Maryland at Crisfield and on
Smith
I., Ewell.  Sunday:  Virginia at South Point Marsh south to Cheeseman and
Shanks Islands area almost to Tangier Island as well as Ewell again in
MD. 
Liz and Harry Armistead.

Interesting, perhaps significant, misses for the entire weekend:  Elle
Macpherson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brown Pelican, gannet, Double-crested
Cormorant, egrets, Brant, American Oystercatcher, Western Sandpiper,
dowitcher, Forster's Tern and none of the 5 pochards.


Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002.  Clear, warm, 38-55 F. (but some ice in protected
ditches), NE-SE 0-10 m.p.h.  A gem.  Very hazy early in the day.

East of Crisfield at Jenkins and Ape Hole (don't ask; you tell me and
we'll
both know) Creeks, 6:30-8:30 A.M.  27 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Northern
Cardinals (singing), 2 harriers, 1 imm. Bald Eagle, 25 robins, 1 Greater
Yellowlegs, 45 black ducks, 6 Killdeer, 70 Boat-tailed Grackles.  Also a
sub-adult Great Blue Heron, when I stopped 50 feet away it nonchalantly
continued to catch small fishes, < 2 in. long, in a ditch filled with old
buckets and metal debris.  It continued feeding as I slammed the door and
started the big, noisy car again and drove off.

Crisfield and Janes Island State Park, 10 A.M. - noon.  5 hoodies, 40
Turkey & 3 Black Vultures, 4 Common Loons, 2 Surf Scoters, 1 imm. Bald
Eagle.  

Boat to Ewell aboard the 'Jason', 12:30-1:15, 12+ miles.  Pretty bleak,
really.  5 Common Loons, 75 Long-tailed Ducks, 290 Tundra Swans (s. part
of
Glenn L. Martin N.W.R.), 65 Buffleheads, 2 Mute Swans.  The Martin refuge
used to be the private hunting reserve and recreation spot for Glenn L.
Martin, aviation pioneer, builder of the Martin bomber used in WWII, and
so
on.  He was the Martin in Martin Marietta.  His house in Ewell, at least
the several times when I stayed there in the 1970's and 1980's, still has
his personal china inscribed with his name.  The house also now belongs
to
the refuge and has some displays.  

Ewell, Smith I.  25 species, 1:15-6:30 P.M.  Also, somewhat bleak, but
not
many landbirds are to be expected here.  1 TV, 36 Myrtle Warblers, 1 male
downy Woodpecker (same one you saw one recent winter, Marshall?), 1
flicker, 2 pintails, 3 harriers, 1 robin, 11 Clapper Rails (in marsh
along
road to Rhodes Pt., 2 seen), 1 Seaside Sparrow, 2 Green-winged Teal. 
Signs
of spring:  a few dandelions, blooming quince bushes, a bee, a big Pussy
Willow bush about fully out, Red Maples well-budded, irises up an inch or
more, some little, blue violets.  Many blooming quince in Crisfield also
and our Philadelphia quince has had some blossoms now for 2 weeks.  4
skeet
shooters on the road to Rhodes Point didn't help our efforts today.  

Stayed at the Smith I. Motel.  Minimalist but fine for us, except for the
3
loud roustabouts we shared it with, who are building, with only slightly
more noise than they made in the motel, the new bulkhead on the island at
Tylerton.  Shared bathrooms.  410-425-4441 or 410-425-3321.  The sycamore
out front is where birds often like to perch.  Within 100 yards are the
church, fire hall, school, Ruke's restaurant, the island museum, and Tim
Marshall's store with artifacts, decoys, arrowheads, comic books, and
other
collectibles.  Lunched at Ruke's (Liz's sea trout sandwich was good as
was
my cheeseburger deluxe with crinkle-cut French fries.).  Din-dins at the
church, prime-ribs, with most of the congregation there.  People who run
the motel are very nice but sometimes it's like 'Thunder Road', minus
Robert Mitchum, since fully functional exhaust/muffler systems are
accidental on the island.  Motel is on the road to Rhodes Point, near the
marsh.  No ATM anywhere, credit cards are useless on the island.  Any of
you who've ever stayed at Frances Kitching's motel, this is the lineal
descendant, just across the street.  Frances is now in a nursing home on
the mainland.  Various bed and breakfasts get it cranked up in the warmer
months.  This was my first winter visit to Smith Island (Liz's first ever
at any time), only the 2nd time I've paid for lodging here.  Figs and
pomegranates grow commonly here in season.


Sun., Feb. 10, 2002.  Even nicer, clear to fair to overcast with some
spotty from rain 1:30 on, when it didn't matter.  40-65 F.  E-SE 5-10 at
times almost calm.  

Ewell, 6:30-9 A.M. & 12:15-4 P.M.  35 species (I was shooting for 30 -
get
out the champagne) incl.:  1 Red-breasted Nuthatch (a flyover at the
motel), 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Tricolored Heron, 8 Clapper Rails, 3
cardinals (2 singing), 8 Song Sparrows (4 singing), 21 Fish Crows, 2
flickers, 10 robins, 43 Myrtle Warblers, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 6 hoodies,
215
Canada Geese, 1 mockingbird.  Took a nappypoo in the afternoon.

Boat ride, 9 A.M. - 12:15 P.M.  Half-tide and rising.  17 foot skiff, the
'Native American', with 60 H.P. Mercury captained by Timothy T(rent)
Marshall.  He can take 2-3 passengers at $20/hr. to look for artifacts,
bird, sightsee.  I recommend him but his skiff would not be much fun in a
15 m.p.h. wind or more.  410-968-1291.  This boat ride was the highpoint
of
our weekend.  Seldom have I been a little too warm on a boat moving at 20
m.p.h. in February.

Swan I. in Martin N.W.R. (west side of island at base of north jetty): 
35
Tundra Swan, 3 Canada Geese.  Here there are nice flats at low tide. 
Swan
I. seems to be emergent, with marsh building up and an enlarging wooded
area.

Jetties at west entrance to Smith I.  These are long and low.  18 Purple
Sandpipers (they are tame AND FAT, allowing us to cruise by at less than
50
feet, scarcely opening their eyes; thanks, Marshall and Jim, for putting
us
onto these; new for my Somerset County list), 2 Ruddy Turnstones, 9
Sanderlings, 18 Surf Scoters, 22 Long-tailed Ducks, 25 Buffleheads.  The
purps were on the south jetty, south side at the end.

Rhodes Point (one of 3 Smith I. towns, southwest Smith I.; connected to
Ewell by a road c. 2 mi. long) by boat:  28 Rock Doves, 3 Tricolored and
1
imm. Little Blue Heron.

Round Hammock, a deciduous hammock just north of the MD/VA line.  Bald
Eagle nest visible but no eagles (I have yet to ever see one at Smith I.
in
spite of the presence of this nest and one on Cherry I. in the n. part of
Martin N.W.R.).

VIRGINIA.  Boated and/or walked all the way south from South Marsh Point
to
what is left of Cheeseman and Shanks Islands, which have disappeared as
what I suppose are their remaining long, sandy strips (almost
mini-barrier
islands) have shifted east, anchored somewhat by thick, tall tussocks of
some kind of lovely Panicum grass, Sea Rocket, and 'Spartina
alterniflora'
marsh.  This is near wilderness, where the big colonies of Brown
Pelicans,
Double-crested Cormorants, and Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls are
in
summer.  We got down to c. 2 mi. n. of Tangier Island, at which point the
sandy islands peter out.

915 Tundra Swans, 1375 American Wigeon, 56 Sanderlings, 1875 Dunlin, 60
Black-bellied Plovers, 1875 Herring Gulls.  The gulls wheeled overhead,
calling, as they do in the breeding season.  Also, 2 Bald Eagles, 35 Mute
Swans, 385 Canada Geese, 4 harriers, 40 black ducks, 5 goldeneye, 65
Ring-billed Gulls, 2 Horned Grebes (only ones all weekend), 1 turnstone,
2
White-winged and 60 Surf Scoters.  I looked pretty hard for dows and
Westerns to no avail.  All the shorebirds were roosting and resting on
the
sands at high tide.  The wigeon and Tundra Swans were really jumpy, even
though we tried to be unobtrusive, and I suppose have been shot at most
of
the winter since Virginia and North Carolina both have a swan gunning
season.

Back in Maryland.  Ride back to the mainland aboard the 'Jason II',
4-4:45
P.M.  Choppy, 15-20 m.p.h., roughish, overcast, some rain:  a few
Long-tailed Ducks, RB Mergs, Buffleheads, skunkheads, 1 loon.  Route 413,
4
mi. s. of the junction with Rt. 13, 4 Wild Turkeys east of the highway in
a
big field at 5:15 P.M.  The boat rides to Smith I. cost $10 per person
each
way.  Ruke's and the few stores close down on Sundays.

Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225.  Any off-list replies, please, to: 
harryarmistead@xxxxxxxxxxx
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[va-bird] Smith Island Feb. 9-10 (Harry Armistead)